Lula bans online betting in Brazil nine days before election

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed an executive order on 25 September 2026 banning online betting in Brazil, nine days before the first round of the presidential election. The order takes effect upon publication, bars new advertising, and requires congressional approval within 120 days to remain in force. Lula is seeking reelection against Flávio Bolsonaro, and recent polls have the 80-year-old leader almost neck-and-neck with his rival.ijr.com+1

The order matters because it reverses a regulated betting market the country implemented in 2025 and shuts down an industry that Brazil legalised in 2018. Online betting has since exploded in popularity, and Lula has blamed it for household income losses and addiction. The ban takes effect immediately, bars new deposits, and gives users until 5 October to withdraw remaining funds, with platforms set to shut down afterward.courthousenews.com

What the order does

Lula described the industry as a "cancer" that must be removed. "Either we remove the tumour, or it kills us," he said. He also said society was left completely unprotected and that the country brought the casino into people's homes, into the kitchen and the living room, and that there has to be oversight. Lula acknowledged online betting was created under former President Michel Temer's administration but said it grew without regulation under Bolsonaro's management.

Gambling-related harm costs Brazil's public health system an estimated 38.8 billion reais (about $7.7 billion) a year, according to a report by the Institute for Health Policy Studies. Finance Minister Dario Durigan said more than 60 billion reais (about $12 billion) went to betting companies since the regulated market began operations. About 59.9% of Brazilian adults support banning internet betting, a survey by Atlas and Bloomberg published this week has found.

Where the money went

The Brazilian Institute for Responsible Gaming, which represents leading companies in Brazil's regulated betting industry, said the ban breaks with the regulatory framework established by the government less than two years ago. The National Association of Games and Lotteries said it is preparing a court challenge to overturn the executive order. Its president, Plínio Lemos Jorge, said a compensation claim would cover the 30 million reais licence fee plus material and moral damages.

Alexandre Santos de Aragão, an administrative law professor at Rio de Janeiro State University, said current law already provides that licences may be revoked at the government's discretion, and that companies have no vested right to keep their licences. He added that legal disputes are likely to centre on compensation, proportional refunds of licensing fees, and whether companies are entitled to a transition period.

The legal fight ahead

Diego Fernandes, a partner at Roenick Fernandes Advogados specialising in public and regulatory law, said claims for proportional refunds covering the unused portion of the licences have a stronger legal basis than demands for compensation for investments and expected profits. He said that if the order expires without Congress regulating its effects, licences terminated while it was in force may not be restored.

Flávio Bolsonaro called the gambling crackdown "populist, hypocritical and politically motivated" during a campaign rally in Rio de Janeiro on Friday. Lula, in a statement on X, said there were no restrictions preventing children and adolescents from accessing online betting, and that betting companies would not be allowed to profit at the expense of Brazilian families' income and lives.

In a separate proposal, the government will send Congress a bill making the operation of online betting businesses a crime punishable by up to six years in prison, because Brazil's Constitution bars executive orders from creating crimes or criminal penalties. A federal task force will identify websites and bank accounts used by unlicensed operators, and the government announced a ban on bank transfers for betting.